Over the past decade, personal mobile computing devices, such as smart phones and tablet notebook, have become increasingly popular and capable, directly contributing to the already-widespread usage of wide area public data communications networks, such as the Internet. Software written for these devices, often simply called “apps,” enables users of these devices to tap online resources virtually anywhere, whether to read Web pages, exchange emails or text messages, or to make purchases or transact business.
Frequently, online resources require the creation of an account with the third party responsible for the resource and access to the account generally requires user authentication, typically with a password. Banking institutions, for instance, require accountholders to set up a password and related-security features that help ensure that only authorized users are able to access an account online. Password protections remain the most popular form of online security. Almost two-thirds of consumers have five or more accounts with online services that require passwords, and almost one-third have ten or more password-protected online accounts. Of these consumers, over half of them often forget their passwords or use they use the same password for all of their accounts, which leads to a decrease in security and greater risk for fraudulent access and use.
Ensuring authorized access to online resources remains a challenge, yet online account compromise remains a pervasive problem that is worsening and that has been exacerbated by the proliferation of mobile computing devices, which can be lost or whose wireless communications can be intercepted. The identity and access management authentication market is currently estimated at $12.6B and growing annually, due to the increased need for online security to combat a rise in identities stolen or fraudulently used during transactions and online exchanges. Moreover, in the United States alone, approximately 15 million residents have their online identities used fraudulently each year with financial losses totaling upwards of $50B. Current approaches remain inadequate.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved online security access that better accommodates the realities of password protection and user fallibilities.